The present invention relates to storage and dispensing cabinets for tape and film cassettes and similar articles, and more particularly to such cabinets provided with mechanisms for ejecting selected cassettes.
A variety of cabinets have been proposed for the storage of tape and film cassettes, exemplary cabinets being described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,866,990 and 3,969,007. The increasing number of cassettes in use has created a need to improve upon the construction of such cabinets to reduce their cost, while improving upon their operational features and reliability.
In general, previously known cabinets of the above type employ a series of open-ended parallel slots in which the cassettes are inserted. An ejector mechanism is provided which includes a tab or button at the front end of each slot by which a member at the rear of the slot is caused to push the cassette forward so that it can be grasped and removed manually. In some instances, a plurality of interconnected moving parts are used to form a separate ejector for each slot. In other devices, a flexible member extends beneath each slot and bends to eject the cassette when depressed. In each of these cabinet constructions, the ejector must extend from the front of the cabinet to the back.
An objective of this invention is to simplify the construction of the cabinet, reducing its assembly cost and minimizing the quantity of materials required, while providing a highly reliable cabinet and a simple, smooth functioning ejector mechanism.